Quick to Rise
by entity9silvergen
Summary: Earth 27's speedster got his speed quite unlike any speedster on any other Earth thanks to his Earth's unique connection to the Hyper Heaven. How did Eddie Thawne discover it? What prompted Johnny Quick's Rise to power? (Johnny Quick Origin Story) [Disclaimer: I do not own the Flash, CW's Flash, or Barry Lyga's version of the Flash based off the CW series]
1. Lightning Strikes

**Author's Note:** This story takes place on Earth 27 as it is shown in the CW Flash books. You do not need to read the books to understand this story.

* * *

That day, that day when it all began, had been a day like any other, if not more peaceful than most days though the air was a bit cooler than most would prefer. A new season was coming, the dried leaves blown through the streets by the cool breeze were evidence of that.

Cities often had a sound to them but no one could ever identify it or even really notice it until it was gone. Today was one of those days. The city had fallen quiet save for a few noises cutting through that silence. The ring of a bell on a bike, the chirps and beeps of crosswalk lights, the soft hum of cars, they were present above the tranquil silence but did not overpower it.

The sound of sirens, however, did.

A police car that sat idelly in traffic suddenly began blaring. Cars that were able moved to the side, making way for the city's hero so he could hastily make his way to a crime scene and save their fellow citizens from whatever danger lurked.

Thoughts like those passed through the minds of a number of Central City's citizens in their cars on this quiet street and none of them could imagine how wrong they were or how different their lives would be if they had just sat their cars, unmoving, delaying this cop just a bit longer.

But, of course, they had no way of knowing what horrors would happen six months from now. In the moment, each and every person who moved their car to the side of the road and allowed the blue and white police car to zoom by believed that they were being good citizens by helping in the little ways they were able. None of them would ever know that they could've done this city more good if they just hadn't.

The cop in the car paid little attention to those people. To him, they were insignificant. Just background, just vessels blocking his path. In his mind, they couldn't move fast enough.

The cop reached into his pocket and, with one hand on the wheel, began to dial a number into the phone he was now holding. The man's keen blue eyes were focused on the road, not even looking to see if his fingers were hitting the right buttons for he had no need to check. This was a number he had called many times.

The phone didn't ring for long. The other end picked up within thirty seconds of the moment that the cop's finger hit call.

"Hey Eddie," the voice in the other end greeted. It sounded distracted. There was a soft clink of glass on a table as the speaker set something down to talk on the phone. "What do you need?"

The cop, Eddie, gave a grin but there was no joy behind it or even amusement really. It was an emotionless smirk. "I can't call you to see how you're doing now can I Barry?"

"I can hear your sirens," Barry responded. "You're in a hurry."

"That's right, I am," Eddie said, his voice hardening and the light expression on his sharp face faded and darkened as he grew more serious. "I need some evidence destroyed."

"Alrighty…" Barry's voice trailed as, what Eddie could only assume, crossed his lab into the backroom where cops dropped of their evidence each day. "Which case?"

"8A-7," Eddie told him. "And make it quick. Chyre screw up. Real bad. For all I know, someone may be heading your way right now."

"How bad? What'd he do?"

"Didn't cover his tracks well enough for one of goodie-goodies to catch a scent if you catch my drift."

"Who? Which one?"

"I don't fucking know, Allen," Eddie responded. "One of the new ones, a clean one. Real clean. Doesn't even know how dirty the force is."

"I know the one," Barry said. "He tried talking to me the other day about how much he loves being able to protect this city and how some day he's going to do some real good for Central City's people and crap like that."

"Sounds like the one," Eddie told him. "Don't know his name but he caught on to one of Chyre's operations and told the captain."

"Captain don't care," Barry responded. There was another clink as Barry set his phone down and began rustling through the evidence bags. "Captain will turn a blind eye to just about anything. Long as you pay him off, of course."

"Yeah, yeah," Eddie waved him off. He slammed his hand down in the horn as he passed though an intersecting, narrowly avoiding collision with a minivan speeding through. "Watch where you're fucking going lady! Anyway, Allen, some clean chick is in from out of town. Not sure which city, don't care. Point is, she's a clean one. We gotta keep our hands clean as long as she's hear or she's gonna have a fit and file a report to the higher ups or some shit."

"Ah." Barry paused a moment. Eddie knew he had to be looking at the evidence bag. "I think I got it. What even is this?"

"Don't worry about it," Eddie told him.

"I kinda need to know what it is if I'm going to destroy it. If we're playing it safe, I'm going to need to put in some fake evidence, man, and I can't do that if I don't know what the hell this is."

"Drugs. Green light, I think it's called from… from… Freedman? Freedman, I think that's it. That's where the clean captain chick is from I think. She'll recognize it for sure if she goes through the evidence."

"Uh-huh. And why do I need to destroy it? And I think it's Freeland, by the way."

"Freeland, you're right. Shit, you're right. Freeland got a good drug trade going on right now, there's this new stuff called Green Light. Highly addictive, it's got some side effects but I'm not really sure what. The crooked cops there got busted and sent their supplies to some other cities. Chyre got his hands on some but that new goodie-goodie somehow nabbed it."

"Uh-huh. And why is it so vital I torch it?"

"He literally got his hands on it. He got his prints on it."

"What?" Barry's voice sounded strangled with surprise. Through the speaker, Eddie heard the sound of the evidence bag being opened alongside the sound of a flame being started. "Chyre's one of our best guys. How could he of all people forget to wear gloves?"

"Long story short, someone threw it at him and he caught it," Eddie replied. He heard the sound of something burning. "Is it going?"

"Gone," Barry told him. "How what's this green light stuff look like? I'm going to have to replicate it pretty freaking good if there's someone around who knows what it look like."

"It's green. And crystally."

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"Wait, why are you asking me what it looks like? It was just in front of you."

"Yeah, well, destroy evidence first, cover up later. It's safer that way."

"Whatever. I'm coming up close, I'll be in there in a minute."

"Shut off those sirens. No one returns to the precinct with their sirens on."

"Right, thanks man."

"No prob."

* * *

Eddie was at the precinct in a matter of minutes. His car sloppily parked, he jumped out and ran through the parking lot so he could circling around to the front doors. Not bothering to hold the door open for an oncoming secretary, he made a beeline for the stairs upon entering.

"Mr. Thawne?"

Eddie stopped in his tracks at the sound of his name. He groaned, not having the courtesy to internalize it. That new recruit, the one that found the evidence, was running up to him. The man slowed to a halt, heavily breathing, in front of him, blocking his path.

"I just wanted to say good job today on the-"

"I don't have time right now, kid," Eddie snapped.

"Right, of course sir. I understand a cop as great as yourself is very busy and-"

"Move," Eddie growled, shoving the younger cop aside. He let out a yelp as he stumbled. Eddie continued to mutter under his breath as he began to head up the stairs to Barry's lab. In the distance, there was clap, almost like thunder. Eddie paid no mind to it. He'd just been outside, he knew there was no storm.

"Allen," Eddie stated as he walked into the lab.

"Oh, hey Eddie," Barry greeted, looking over from where he was taking beakers off a shelf covered with similar beakers filled with bright chemicals of just about every color. "I think I've figured out-"

"What the hell is that?" Eddie interrupted, light in the distance catching his eye.

Barry turned and looked out the window. The sky was dark due to the late hour. Barry shrugged. "I didn't see anything."

"Forget it," Eddie said. "What were you saying?"

Barry opened his mouth to speak but was once again interrupted, this time by something far louder than Eddie's voice. Both Eddie and Barry were staring up at the ceiling in an instant as the sound of glass shattering flooded the room.

"Barry!" Eddie screamed as a bolt of lighting came down from the sky, slicing through the glass ceiling, shattering it into a million pieces. Eddie moved forward but he could never hope to outrun lightning. Barry screamed as the lightning struck his chest and sent electricity coursing through his body. Eddie began running to his friend's side.

Barry's body burned and blackened immediately. He went limp and fell onto the shelf of chemicals beside him. Time seemed to slow for Eddie as he watched strains of electricity disperse from the main bolt and jump towards the chemicals as they fell to the ground. The beakers shattered like the roof midair, sending their contents raining down on Barry's scorched body.

Lightning was only supposed to be present for a split second and this lighting was no different. By the time Eddie reached the fallen form, the bolt was gone but traces of electricity lingered in the air.

Suddenly distracted, Eddie found himself captivated about them. Forgetting about the body, he watched the tiny streaks dance around the chemicals. He focused on a particularly bright one that flitted around one of the beakers that had fallen next to Barry. The beaker was completely shattered, shards of glass sitting in a red liquid as dark as blood that has spilled on the concrete floor.

Eddie could hear something but he wasn't exactly sure what. He could see it too. His eyes remained focused on the electricity dancing in the red liquid. There was something more to it. There was something… something to it.

Eddie listened and he listened hard. The sound, he could hear something. Almost like music, light and harmonious, yet not quite there. _Three… ex… to…_

The electricity jumped in the pool. Eddie's pupils widened. He could read it. He could read the electricity. It was trying to tell him something. He managed to clasp onto a whole phrase this time. _The quantity nine._

Eddie tried to read more but the light suddenly flickered. It was dying. "No!" Eddie hated how weak, how pathetic, his voice sounded in that very moment but he had to know. He had to know what the lightning was trying to tell him. "Don't leave!"

"Why… zee…" Eddie whispered, barely catching those last few sounds from the lightning as it began to fade. _For a…_ And the light was gone.

"No!" Eddie cried. "For a what? Tell me."

Eddie's eyes flicked around the room. The rest of the electricity that lingered in the other chemical spills died as his gaze reached them. "No, no, no, no."

Eddie felt something in the air. It was light, tranquil, warm. He felt in in him, just barely. He couldn't identify it but it felt… divine.

The feeling faded just as the wisps of electricity had leaving him feeling very alone and suddenly aware of his body and location. He felt something against his legs. He looked down and say Barry laying on his lap just as he was a moment ago when he had pulled him close.

"Hey!" Eddie yelled, his voice echoing through the precinct. "Hey! I need help in here! In the lab! It's Barry!"

In an instant, a number of cops streamed in. Eddie looked down at his friend, his face marred with black, his skin clearly burned clean off. Well, not clean exactly. Eddie blinked, water coming to his eyes but he didn't let it fall. He was no crier.

"Eddie, leave him," a cop said. Eddie wasn't sure who. He felt shock finally set in. He'd been so distracted by the lightning, that divine lightning, that his brain hadn't registered that laying on his lap was his friend. His dead friend.

Eddie nodded numbly and gently pushed Barry's body off him. It was still warm against his finger tips. He felt static as he drew his hand away from the man's shoulder.

Eddie rose slowly, eyes wide as he stared blankly at Barry. The impact of everything was sinking in. Barry Allen was dead.

"Hey, Eddie." Eddie felt a hand on his shoulder, drawing him away but the blonde haired man wouldn't tear his gaze away. He took a shaky step backward, allowing himself to be guided away and out of the lab. "Let's get you out of here. Can you tell me what happened?"

Eddie looked up, coming face to face with his captain, Singh. He opened his mouth to speak but it suddenly felt dry and no words formed. "L-lighting," he finally managed to stutter.

Singh's expression was grave as he nodded. "Lightning. One of my best men, lost to lightning."

"The lightning… that wasn't lighting," Eddie whispered.

"What was that, Thawne?"

"N-nothing," Eddie said. He glanced back at the lab. Grief welled up in him but another feeling soon overpowered it. It was a feeling he did not recognize. Wonder? Confusion? Hope? Desperation? It was a mix of all of those. That feeling the lightning eliminated… those words it whispered… what was that?


	2. For a what?

**Author's Note:** Apparently this was unclear. This is Earth 27 as it is shown in the CW Flash books. You don't need to know the storyline to understand the story but *SpoilerAlert* Eddie Thawne is the speedster Johnny Quick on Earth 27 and everyone who is good is evil and visa versa.

* * *

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a… for a what?" Eddie whispered as he wrote the words down in sharp letters using a standard pencil. He was sitting in his living room. It was early morning, still dark, the rising sun's light trickling in from behind the curtains covering a closed window.

Eddie frowned as he stared at the notepad in hand. _Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…_ for a what? What the hell did that even mean? It sounded like a bunch of nonsense to Eddie and he was a detective, he was trained to pick out clues from nonsense.

In his line of work, he did come across nonsense quite frequently. Just last week, he had been instructed to interrogate an old woman. Eddie wasn't a fan of women and even less of the elderly. Women were just so… illogical and he'd never met someone over the age of sixty who had all their marbles. The two together… Eddie shuddered at the memory.

But the lightning, that couldn't have been nonsense. Of course, it had been lightning who had been talking and that in itself made Eddie question many things but each time he did, he remembered the light, the energy, the power, that had lit up those chemicals and captivated his eyes. It was something, something real. There were words in that lightning and it killed him that he hadn't heard the whole thing.

As the sun rose, more light came into the dark room, casting light onto the words Eddie had written out. The granite against the white illuminated by the sunlight only made Eddie stare into it harder, trying to make sense of the words. _Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…_

He pulled out his phone and typed the phrase into the search bar. _Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…_ He blinked at the first result then proceeded to scroll around the results page a bit. Apparently the phrase had something to do with the bible. He cleared the search bar and tried to think of something else to look up. He wasn't the religious type, he could count the number of times he'd been inside a church on one hand. He sincerely doubted the lightning was sent by a bearded man in the sky to convince him to change his ways and become a holy man.

 _Quantity._ That was the only clear word that made any sense. Shifting his position so his back was now against the back of the couch so he was sitting up straight rather than hunched over, Eddie pulled up the dictionary app on his phone and slowly typed in the word quantity.

 _Quantity. Kwon-ti-tee. Noun, plural quan-ti-ties. 1) a particular or indefinite amount of anything. 2) an exact or specified amount or measure. 3) a considerable or great amount._

Eddie stared at his phone a moment. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He was about to close the app and go find an actual paperback dictionary when his phone vibrated. He swiped the app away to look at his messages.

He quickly saw that his girlfriend Iris had texted him a number of times the previous night but he hadn't noticed nor responded. Whoops. Nothing he could do about that, she'd have his head for that the next time he saw her. But that wasn't what had vibrated his phone.

At the top of his messages was a text from his boss.

 _Singh: Thawne, get to work._

Eddie glanced at the white faced clock mounted on his wall. This was usually the time he woke up, he wasn't late. What did Singh want? He never texted him.

Looking back at the notepad in his hand, he decided that whatever Singh wanted to tell him wasn't important. What the lightning wanted to tell him, now that was important.

Eddie's blue eyes flicked over the page. _Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…_

He whispered it. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…"

Nothing happened. He hadn't expected it to. As a kid, actually he was probably in high school when it happened, his English teacher had told him to say something aloud to make sense of it. Eddie didn't give a rat's ass about English but he found it useful when mulling over a case and that tip was certainly useful now. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…"

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…" he whispered a bit louder. He felt something in him. In his chest, he thought but he wasn't sure. He tried again. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…"

There. He felt it again. In his legs, pricking his skin ever so faintly. What was that? A nervous energy spread through the rest of him with anticipation. What was that? What was that feeling?

Before he could utter the words again, he felt something vibrate against his leg. He glared at his phone and tossed it aside. He was close, he could feel it. Close to what, he did not know but he knew he was close to that… that… divine. That light, tranquil, warm feeling in the air he wasn't able to identify, that was what he could feel under his skin, in his muscles. That divine feeling. He wanted it. He needed it.

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a," Eddie said at full volume. He never spoke to himself, he always felt ridiculous even though he lived around and knew no one could hear him. Right now, it didn't feel like he was talking to himself. That thought had not even crossed his mind.

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a," Eddie repeated. He could feel a tone in his voice he did not like. Whiny, pleading, begging. He was begging the lightning, the divine. He didn't like that. He cleared his throat and tried again, harder and more confidant this time. More demanding. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a."

He felt it that time, stronger. That feeling, that light, warm, tranquil feeling. It was in him if only for a split second. He tried again. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a."

Eddie felt a jolt in his chest and feet. He smiled, a genuine one. It felt strange on his face, he was so used to giving false smiles that he had almost forgotten how to give a real one. He looked down at himself. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a."

This time, he flinched when he felt the jolt. It lasted a few seconds this time. It felt… it felt powerful. He felt powerful. Was this what the lightning had been trying to show him? Its power? It was amazing, better than anything Eddie had ever felt. A few days ago, Cheyre had described to Eddie the high Green Light gave. He said he felt weightless, free, like there was nothing dragging him down. Each time Eddie uttered those words, he felt that way and so much more. Nothing could describe the way he felt, no matter how hard he tried to find the words.

Eddie's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He cursed loudly and got up to retrieve his phone off the ground where it had landed when he threw it. He frowned. The screen had cracked but that didn't stop him from reading the name of his caller.

It was Singh. Eddie knew better to hang up on him, especially after ignoring him for so long. He hit answer and lifted it took his ear. "Detective Edward Thawne here."

"Eddie, get your ass to my office now," Singh said. "That's an order."

"I've still got an hour before my shift, boss," Eddie responded. "I'm still at home."

A number of muffled curses came from the other end. Eddie had seen Singh throw his phone down and talk to himself when he was frustrated a number of times. He usually wasn't on the receiving end though.

"Eddie, when your boss tells you to come to work, you get your ass to work," Singh sighed. "I've got to talk to you."

"What about?"

"In person, Thawne, in person. Now get over here. I don't care if your in bed in your pajamas or in the shower stark naked. Get!"

"Yes sir."

* * *

Eddie could sense tension in the air when he stepped into Captain Singh's office. Eddie repressed a shiver when brown eyes met blue. He wasn't used to getting this vibe from his boss. He was usually a more light-hearted guy.

Singh was seated at his desk, fingers folded. He gestured for Eddie to sit. Eddie opened his mouth to request to stand but decided against it and sat in the chair pulled up to the desk.

"What's this about?" Eddie asked, the first to speak.

Singh shifted, lowering his hands so his palms were down on the table. "I don't know how to put this lightly Eddie… You're fired."

"What?" Eddie shouted, jumping up. He slammed his hands down on the desk so hard that the passersbys jumped at the sound. He leaned forward, glaring Singh dead in the eye. "What'd I do? I'm one of your best guys and you know it. I've got so much dirt on you-"

Singh rose his hand for silence. "I know, Thawne, I know. It's not my choice and I'd really rather not. If you keep your mouth shut, I might be able to get you back on the force in a few months but that's a big maybe."

Eddie forced his expression to relax and sat back down but he felt just as tense as ever, anger boiling up in him. "Why?"

"Why I want to keep you or-"

"Why I'm getting fired."

"You've heard of the Freeland captain in town?"

Eddie nodded.

"Yeah, well, with the whole lightning thing in the lab, she decided to do some snooping around up there and she came across some things she didn't like."

"Yeah, yeah. So why am I getting fired?"

Singh shrugged. "There were signs of someone tampering with evidence. She got her hands on Barry's phone. You were the last person he spoke with."

"That's hardly evidence," Eddie scoffed.

"She looked at your file," Singh told him. "And someone ratted you out."

"Who?"

"That's confidential," Singh said in a mocking voice. "I don't fucking know. That woman, she's a real bitch taking control of my forces the way she is. She says she's going to clear the crooked cops off my force, you're just the first."

"You're as crooked as I am, Singh," Eddie said sharply.

"I know. Gotta cover my own ass before I cover your's though, Thawne," Singh replied. "Sorry but you know how it is, I can't do much for you. I called you over early so you can clean out your desk without many people around. I suggest you get to it."

* * *

Eddie was silently growling to himself as he shoved what little belongings he had on his desk into a cardboard box. He didn't care for them much, he wouldn't mind leaving them, but it wasn't like he had anything else to do.

Eddie's mind began to drift as reality set in. He was losing his job. His job was his life. Singh had said he would try to keep him on the force but Eddie sincerely doubted that was true. He knew he'd have to find a new job but he wasn't exactly qualified for much else. What would he do for a living?

Eddie found that wasn't the reason for his increasing nervousness. He glanced upward in the direction of Barry's old lab. That was where the lightning had been. He didn't think it would return but if it did, he'd want to be there for it.

An idea began to form in the detective's mind and before he knew it, he had made his way up the stairs and was currently pushing the door open to the lab. Eddie blinked, suddenly snapping back to reality as he felt yellow caution tape brush against his arm while he propped the door open. He ducked under it, having done that many times.

Barry's body was long gone. So were the spilled chemicals and the glass. In their place were white chalk marks showing where the damage had been. Eddie didn't really understand why they did that, it wasn't like this was a crime scene or anything like that.

Eddie stepped over the chalk, careful not to smudge it or leave footprints. His gaze scanned the room. There was no sign that the lightning had been here at all, not even burn marks on the ground.

As Eddie looked around, he realized he didn't know Barry all too well despite requesting his help on occasion. Like anyone at the precinct, Barry had a few personal belongings and pictures in his lab. Eddie had no idea what the pictures were of or what the items' significance was.

Eddie felt a bit guilty but ignored the feeling and stepped further into the lab. He didn't know what CSI did but it looked like Barry had a number of experiments running. Probably looking over evidence but it looked like no one had collected it, probably due to the accident. Eddie briefly debated if he should snag some evidence bags or not. He eventually decided against it, it wasn't his problem anymore.

Eddie drifted over to Barry's computer and began poking through his stuff. Eventually, his hand found its way to an old, worn notebook. He flipped it open, his eyes skimming over the messy scrawl within. Suddenly, those same blue eyes widened in realization and the crooked detective dropped the notebook and ran out of the lab, out to his car, and rushed home.

* * *

Eddie threw the cardboard box down upon walking through his door and kicked off his shoes. He didn't care about that at the moment, there were more important things to worry about. Not bothering to take off his jacket or lock the front door behind him, he made a hasty beeline for his room.

Eddie immediately dropped to his knees and looked under his bed. He frowned. Nothing was under there. He mentally slapped himself. He wasn't a child anymore, he didn't keep things under his bed.

Eddie got back to his feet and ran out of his room to the hallway. He took short steps, it was hard to run indoors and even harder to run in just socks, and stumbled a bit upon halting. He pulled the door open to his hallway closet. His gaze immediately fell upon a box marked _High School Crap_.

Eddie reached up and pulled the box down. He didn't bother to bring it out to his living room, he just sat down on the floor and pulled the box onto his lap. He lifted the lid, tossed it aside, and began rummaging through its contents.

Eddie knew exactly what he was looking for. In no time flat, a heavy physics textbook sat in his lap.

Eddie ran his hand over the cover then looked at it. It was covered in dust. He wiped it on his shirt and opened the book.

Words. Numbers. Endless paragraphs. Small font. Ugly font. He frowned. He never thought he'd look in this thing ever again but he had to.

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a… Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…" Eddie whispered as he flipped through the pages. "Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…"

Eddie got that feeling again and he began skimming faster. Finally, after probably an hour, he found it. Eddie pulled a pencil and his detective notebook out of his pocket.

"3X2(9YZ)4A," Eddie said aloud triumphantly. Immediately, he felt a rush through him, the same feeling as before but much stronger. That warm, tranquil feeling but stronger, powerful even, like lightning beneath his skin. Before he realized what he was doing, Eddie was on his feet and racing across Central City barely a blur to the people on the streets.


	3. Statues

Eddie had a ridiculous grin on his face as he rushed through the streets of Central City so fast that he was gone from a spot before the wind he was stirring up hit anything around it. It was like he put the world on pause. Around him, everything he was used to seeing moving about was frozen. Cars looked like they were parked in the middle of the road, pedestrians were standing still, even the birds were frozen in the air.

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…3X2(9YZ)4A," Eddie said to himself. He felt another jolt through his body. That warm, electric feeling spread through his body to his legs and he put on a burst of speed.

Around four months had passed since the day that the lightning struck. Eddie had later found out Star Labs had some sort of illegal experiment with something called a particle accelerator. The experiment failed badly and sent waves of dark matter across the city.

Someone at the precinct had called Eddie to tell him that was probably what caused the storm clouds to form and that lightning to come down from the sky and kill Barry but Eddie knew better than that. He knew the lightning had been something divine. He didn't really believe in religion so he knew it wasn't God but he was starting to wonder if there was some kind of higher power up there.

Eddie was still unemployed. That captain from Freeland was long gone, believing her efforts to clean up Central City's police force were a success. Singh hadn't contacted Eddie about getting his job back which left the ex-detective pretty pissed.

He found that didn't mind the loss of his job too much though. Being stuck in the precinct all day was pretty boring and he doubted he would've been able to stop himself from breaking into a high speed run while out on the field.

Maybe it was for the better. It wasn't like he needed a job or anything. His house was paid for. He didn't need to buy food. The people who worked at stores, shops, and stands were always standing still next to him. He could just walk up to them and take what he wanted. He had enough cash saved up to pay for his water and electric bills but he quickly realized he wasn't able to use his house's utilities like he used to. Water took forever to find its way through the pipes, the internet wasn't fast enough to respond to his commands, and he usually wasn't home long enough to wait for the lights to turn on.

Still, he had so much time. Eddie had figured out that he could slow down and allow time to pass normally but vibrate to make himself invisible. Early on, he'd enjoyed people watching without being seen but after going on so many runs, he'd lost the patience to continuing doing so. He had to maintain a certain level of speed to keep himself from losing it and unfortunately, that made people look as still as statues.

If he had people he could talk to, he probably would've slipped that phrase into his vocabulary but he was alone and he never really spoke much other than to say his mantra. The word was now limited to his mind. Occasionally he'd have the thought "there are a lot of statues out today," "that statue is in my way" or something along the lines of that. Simple thoughts that randomly passed through his mind. They were no longer "people." He couldn't even really define the word anymore. He was so much more than a person now and the statues were so much... less.

Eddie knew that nothing about them was any different, it was all a matter of perspective. Since he was so much more than he had been when he was a "person,", there was a greater difference between him and the "people" so he just felt like they were less than they had been before. Of course, is was hard to keep that mentality when he was running around them when they were as still as stone and he was as fast as light.

Needless to say, after four months he was having a hard time occupying himself. He didn't leave Central City much but he could go anywhere in the world that he pleased only he found that it wasn't much different in China or Australia or France than it was in Central City other than the difference in architecture and food. He wasn't interested in those kinds of things though. He just needed something to keep himself from getting bored.

Books were something that remained the same no matter how fast he moved. Whether he was moving at his top speed or standing at normal speed, they just sat there. Eddie never liked reading, he had some bad experiences with it at a young age, but they were an escape from boredom.

Four months was a long time and he ran out of books that interested him in less than a week. That included the ones he'd taken from a number of libraries. He ended up expanding his horizons to learning everything he'd ignored in school. Physics, calculus, chemistry, anatomy, philosophy, history, it was pretty boring and difficult for his relatively simple mind to grasp but he had all the time in the world and he slowly- well, slow for him- became even more educated than the world's greatest minds.

Books were just the start. He discovered pretty quickly that he could apply that knowledge without resource or economic limitation since he could just take anything he wanted from the statues without their knowledge.

His house quickly proved to be an inadequate base of operations and after about a month, he set his sights on Star Labs. It had been shut down after the accident and taped off. With his speed, it didn't take long to clean up the debris and burns from the explosion and get the place fully functional again. There was already a lot of technology scattered around the place and it didn't take long for Eddie to find it and improve upon it or salvage the parts to build his own devices.

Of course, he'd started simple with things like batteries, flashlights, that sort of thing. That was just practice though. He then moved onto bigger and better things. Weapons, generators, those were nothing. He built portals, shrink rays, teleporters, vehicles, anything he could imagine. And he designed them to be operable at his speed.

But all those things were pretty useless to him. Everything except this prized possession: his chair.

That was the only thing he really liked in the world at the moment. His chair. It was the best thing ever. He designed it specifically for his body shape and it pulsated to match his heart rate and body temperature. With that thing cradling his body, his meditations to increase his speed became so much easier.

But, he couldn't spend all his time sitting in that chair improving his mind. Running was the only real excitement in his life but he was running without purpose. Maybe if he had someone to run alongside he'd be happier but there was no one he trusted enough to share his secret with. As far as he knew, no one even stopped by his house to check on him after practically disappearing off the face of the earth for four months. Not even Iris.

Eddie's job had been his life and with it gone, he had nothing to fill his days. Of course, he wouldn't trade his speed for his job but he was still pretty bored.

"Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…3X2(9YZ)4A," Eddie whispered. After a split second's thought, Eddie veer off his random path running through the city and towards the precinct where he'd spent so many days and nights. He'd just see how the statues there were doing. After all, he used to be one of them. He was curious how he compared to them now. Thinking about it, their lives had to be pretty pathetic compared to his. They were there that night too. It was pure luck that Eddie was the one who heard the lightning's whispers and discovered the secret to speed.

Eddie, of course, arrived in no time at all. He vibrated through the wall, not bothering to use the door. He immediately noticed all the statues standing about, busy in their meaningless jobs. He recognized Cheyre and a number of the other workers.

As he weaved around them, he was reminded to why he referred to them as statues. They were so still. Mere figures that he had to walk around but were otherwise pretty insignificant.

Eddie was moving so fast that to him, he was moving rather slowly but in reality he was still moving fast enough that the statues were unmoving. He looked over some of his old comrades, checking on them out of nostalgia more than anything. To him, years had passed.

He drifted over to his old desk. He always hated that thing. He was a detective for pete's sake. Granted, he was a crooked as a broken crow bar but he always thought he should be out on the field or in training instead of filing paperwork.

Still, it angered him to see someone else's things at his desk. There were no pictures- people didn't keep pictures of themselves at their desk, that was weird- and he didn't recognize any of the personal possessions.

Eddie made his way up the stairs to Barry's old lab. He saw the havoc left by the lightning was long gone and it appeared that someone had already replaced his fallen friend. He frowned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that but he regarded the lab as sort of a sacred place and he didn't like the idea that a stranger inhabited it now.

Looking around, he saw a metal name tag propped up on the desk. It read 'Julian Albert.' Eddie didn't know who that was and the guy didn't have any personal possessions at his desk for him to get an idea what the guy was like.

Eddie walked away from the lab to the only other place that really belonged to someone: Singh's office. He slid down the rail of the stairs, not wanting to walk, and landed gracefully on the floor. The past four months had given him time to exercise more than just his mind.

He vibrated through the door with ease. The office looked just as he remembered it. Desk facing the door, chairs scattered around, basic lights. And, of course, there was Singh seated at his usual spot, deep in paperwork. Eddie couldn't count how many times he walked in here to see Singh going over reports or whatever police captains do in their offices. He was always here. Eddie knew the guy was married. Must suck for whoever he had back home to have a husband that worked so much.

Eddie walked behind Singh to look over his shoulder. The statue's face was stiff, focused. He had a phone to his ear and a file in his hand. Eddie stole a look at it. He recognized it as some gang dealings. Gangs usually paid the police off to get away with their business. It looked like there was some kind of weapons trade going on soon. The cops were getting some of the cut.

Eddie's face hardened as he looked at the file then at the statue holding it. This man had such an influence over this city when he was merely a statue. That didn't seem right.

That lone thought sent Eddie's mind spiraling. He could practically feel the gears turning in his head. Why was this statue at the top? He, Eddie Thawne, was the only one in Central City and all of the world that wasn't a statue. Why were the statues running things?

Eddie was almost surprised at how little he thought about this as he looped back around to the other side of the desk. There was nothing to think about really. It made perfect sense. He should be the one in charge. No logic could argue that.

Eddie stopped. Completely. Something he rarely did.

Suddenly, time resumed. The sound came back and the statues stopped being statues.

"Thawne!" Singh exclaimed, surprised. To him, Eddie Thawne had just appeared out of thin air. "Can you come back? I don't have time for this. I'm in the middle of a call with-"

"No," Eddie stated. His voice was hard, emotionless. "I'm the one who doesn't have time."

That wasn't true. He had all the time in the world but just standing there at normal speed, it made him antsy. He had to do what he had to do quick or he'd go crazy.

Eddie rose a single hand, fingers pressed together, palm flat. He began to vibrate it.

"W-what are you doing?" Singh asked, leaning away, eyeing the hand fearfully.

"David? David?" a voice from the other end of the phone asked just before Eddie smacked the phone out of his former boss's hand. It fell to the ground, screen cracking on impact.

"Killing you," Eddie said simply with a smile. He leaned over the desk and drove his hand right into Singh's chest. In a moment, Singh went limp, eyes open, dead as a log.

Eddie didn't react at all. He merely took a step back and ran off.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This feels like a bit of a summary but it did let you know what Eddie has been up to before his first kill as a speedster.


	4. Ten Percent

His first kill. That was his first kill. Well, not technically. Eddie had killed before but he was not Eddie. Whoever he'd become had never killed before today. As Eddie sped away from the precinct, he knew he wasn't Eddie anymore. He was someone, something, else. And he needed a new name.

He returned to Star Labs and took a seat in his favorite chair. It was pondering time. He had done little this day but it felt like a lot. He had proven his superiority over these statues. Well, not technically. No one knew what he had done, he'd really only proved something to himself that he already knew.

Already he had two brilliant ideas. First order of business was to think of his name. Second was to show this city who he was. The speedster smiled to himself. For the first time since gaining his power, he finally had something to do with it.

What would be a good name? His powers were speed based, from that Divine. But he knew he shouldn't name himself after it. He wasn't vain enough to call himself a god. That lightning, that was divine and he certainly wasn't. But he was fast. What was another word for fast? A list ran through his mind, he had read many books since becoming a speedster and his vocabulary was immense.

Fast… Speed, rapid, swift, quick… Quick. That was good. Eddie Quick? No, he wasn't Eddie anymore. Barry Quick? Should he name himself after the man who was responsible for gaining this speed? No, he didn't actually like Barry enough to name himself after him.

Quick did something he rarely did. He slowed down. He had to. Computers didn't work as fast as he did. Quick tapped at the keyboard painstakingly slowly. On the search bar, a single word appeared.

 _Names._

He began flipping through the list of names. Quick didn't want anything too extravagant, he needed a simple name. Quick was the defining part of his name, he just needed a statue name, a little something more to remind himself he used to be one of them.

 _Adam… Bryan… Felix… Holden…_ None of those sounded right. _Isaac… John..._

Quick's eyes fell on the name John. He didn't know what drew him to it but he clicked on it. The split second it took for the page to load was an eternity to him but the moment it did, he knew it was worth it.

 _John. Origin: Hebrew. God has been gracious. Nicknames: Johnny, Johnnie, Jax, Jacky, Jackie, Jax, Gino. Syllables: 2._

Quick smiled. God had been gracious. A god. Not the one the name referred to but he liked the name. John Quick. No, that still didn't feel right. His eyes flickered to the nicknames list. Johnny Quick. Johnnie Quick? No, Johnny Quick. Jax? Jax was cool. No, Johnny Quick sounded right.

With that out of the way, it was time to announce Johnny Quick's presence to the statues. Quick moved to zip out of the room but he caught his reflection out of the corner of his eye on a pane of glass. He stopped and frowned. That wouldn't do. That was Eddie's face. Not his. He'd have to do something about that.

* * *

Quick stood in a mirror, inspecting himself. He was dressed in a full red suit, yellow lightning bolts streaking down it to remember his origins. A red cowl was pulled over his head with jagged lightning bolts curving back. Most of his face was exposed. That didn't matter though. His face was blurred by his vibrations.

Quick smirked to himself. His identity was complete, now he just had to show these statues who he was. And he knew exactly how to do it.

Quick was good with technology after months of studying it to simulate his fast moving mind. Hacking into Central City's broadcast system was no trouble at all nor was setting up a camera.

Quick slowed to the statues speed. With the hit of a button, he light on the camera lit up. His message was being displayed on every computer, tv, phone, and tablet in Central City.

Quick positioned himself in front of the camera, face blurred. He stood tall and confidant. This was his first impression on the city. He didn't care if it was good or bad, nothing they could do about it.

"There are eight hundred thousand people living in Central City," he announced, voice tremolo, wavering and varied, impossible to identify. "I am going to kill ten percent of them."

And then he disappeared. All over the city, people watched their screens, not fearing a thing. They thought this was a prank. Thirty seconds later they realized that was not the case.

Quick returned to the camera screen. His hands weren't stained with blood, vibrating his hand in a way to kill was too swift for him to get splattered. He stood calmly and silently, knowing all over the city people were realizing the people around them were lying dead beside them.

"The name's Johnny Quick," he declared. "And I'm Central City's new king."

* * *

Quick stood in the yard outside Star Labs. He was slowed- he had a feeling he'd be doing that a lot lately- and waiting. There were a lot of advanced minds in Central City. He knew he'd killed a number of them but he was sure someone was left that could track a simple broadcast back to the source. He was sure the police would come any moment now.

His perception of time was skewed but eventually he realized he'd been waiting for far too long. He frowned. Had they called in the military? How long did it take for a city to take up arms?

A day passed and Quick realized he had been met with no resistance. A quick run through the city showed him that the citizens were cowering in their homes, not even stepping out to go to school or work. Quick smirked to himself upon this realization. The city was his.

Quick sped back to Star Labs and activated his broadcast again. He stood in front of it, ready to deliver a second message.

"Central City," he addressed, "no one has opposed me. You've saved many lives in doing so. I expecting some brave hearted fools to come after me but it seems you recognize my power, some of you more than others. On my run through the city I saw that many of you have sworn allegiance to me and my power. If you are one of those people, come to Star Labs and meet your king. You will be my Quicklings, my feet around the city. Come, serve your king."

* * *

 **AN:** Haven't updated in forever. Sorry about that.

Testing: ▢ Δ🛆 ෴しか


	5. Five

Five months. That was how long it took to get the city under his control.

Not really.

It had actually taken five days. Time just moved a hell of a lot slower for Quick seeing as he moved faster, thought faster, than the statues filling his city.

Today was the day that marked five months since he seized the city and called his Quicklings to action but for Quick is had been years. Years of just sitting in his throne, occasionally giving orders to his underlings to keep the city under control. There hadn't been any revolts since that first one. No one dared to defy him and Quick found that pretty boring.

That was until four statues showed up at the edge of his city.

Sorry, people. These statues were statues but they were also so much more.

Because three of them were _flying._

Quick rose from his chair, not believing the forms that slowly came into sight on the horizon he could see from his window. A sudden anger brimmed his chest and he shot from his headquarters, muttering his speed mantra. _Three ex to the quantity nine why zee for a…_

His Quicklings had long since leveled the land around Central City's borders and Quick was soon standing on the barren land, gazing at the four statues. Unseen to them, he ran up to them, weaving around them, inspecting them as they floated frozen before him.

There were two that stood out the most but Quick found himself focusing on the woman. She was gorgeous. Tall, flowing obsidian hair, built like she knew how to fight, any man would be head over heels for her. Not Quick though. No, he had no interest in the statues. Even the pretty ones. Even flying ones. Especially pretty flying ones.

The other person he noticed he had seen from a distance. Pale skin stood out against the harsh, brilliant green slow of his body. Quick recognized him as Hal Jordan, a high profile criminal from Coast City. In his cop days, he had heard rumors of how well he paid off cops to say off his back and how glad the cops were to have an excuse, no matter how corrupt, to stay away. Rumor also had it he had a thing for baseball bats covered in nails. Not a pretty way to go.

The only man not in the air donned a silver suit with a feather cloak draped over his shoulders. Upon closer inspection, Quick realized they were shards of metal rigged to a firing system. Any statue hit by one of those would be a dead one. He eyes the line of the cloak, searching for more hidden weapons along the seam. It looked like it could be released, hooked up to some kind of sensor at the center of the man's chest. An owl insignia was displayed there, matching the man's horned owl-like cowl.

All three looked like powerful fighters. Quick scoffed at the fourth. He was clad in blue with a bright red cape flowing behind him. Quick eyed him and found himself unimpressed.

That was until the man _moved_.

Quick was so surprised that he didn't move and a lightning fast hand grasped his neck, cutting off his airway passages. Quick choked and suddenly the world slowed to a normal speed. Statue speed.

A thick arm slowly lifted him off his feet. The glowing man, the warrior woman, and the owl man came to a stop, silent and staring.

"He is fast," the owl man commented.

"Told you," the green man grunted. "Never doubt my sources."

Quick began vibrating his body, phasing through his capturer's hand and dropping safely to the ground. He glared at the blue clad man and looked at the green one. His eyes narrowed. "What sources? No one in Central City gets out without my say so. It's impossible."

The green man gave a dark grin, held up his fist, and tapped the green band around his finger. "The ring knows everything the Rulers know and the Rulers know everything."

Quick shifted his weight onto one foot and looked at the statues boredly. "Who are you and why are you approaching Central City?"

The silver plated man stepped up. "I am Owlman of Gotham. This is Ultraman of Metropolis, Superwoman of Starling, and Power Ring of Coast City. We are the Crime Syndicate."

"Never heard of you."

"That's only because you're too wrapped up in Quick Time to notice anything beyond your borders," Power Ring said. Confusion flashed in Quick's mind but he wasn't going to give this thug the satisfaction of knowing something about him that he didn't. _Quick Time._ Was that why everyone looked like statues?

Power Ring went on. "The planet's under our thumb. Even other worlds fear our name."

"Not the whole planet," Quick said. "Central City's mine."

"And if you wish to keep it, you will listen to our proposal," Superwoman said, putting her hands on her hips.

Quick gave a bark of laughter. "You think you can take my city from me?"

Superwoman crouched and slammed her fist into the earth, shaking the ground and nearly knocking Quick off his feet. Ultraman turned and red hot lasers shot from his eyes, creating a ten foot crater nearby. Power Ring lifted his hand and machine guns made of green light appeared and began firing.

Quick blinked, realizing for the first time that there were others like him. "Where did you get your power? Are there more gods above?"

"Yes," Superwoman said.

"There are no gods," Ultraman argued. "Only us."

Quick snorted but Ultraman did nothing more than glare. Quick knew he was above these statues but he would never claim godhood. Not when he felt that lightning was so divine. So, instead of arguing with this hard headed fool, he looked to Owlman. "How about you?"

"I'm rich," Owlman said. "And I've got control of all of Gotham's forces, criminal and police. And I can do this."

Owlman's silver cape suddenly fired hundreds of flachets into the ground. Unimpressed, Quick opened his mouth to say something but the sharp pieces of metal suddenly rose out of the ground and surrounded him. Quick blinked then smiled. The metal returned to their place on Owlman's cloak.

"You have power," Quick commented, gaze sweeping the four of them. "What's your proposal?"

"Membership in the Crime Syndicate," Superwoman said.

"In exchange for?"

"Your power is with us," Owlman said. "We're going to take this planet by siege. When we're done, you get your empire, including Central City, and we stay out of each other's way."

"And if I refuse?"

"We level this city and you die," Power Ring said, ring glowing. "Please, refuse."

Quick grinned. "I think I'll pass on the refusal. This sounds interesting. I'm in."

The four exchanged a glance and turned.

"Then come," Superwoman said.

"Where to?"

"Does it matter?"

"Nah," Quick said and five figures rushed off toward the horizon.

Within the year, the world was there.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Do you know what actually took five months? Me to update this story.

This story was not a very serious one. I don't think I can ever really get into writing an Arrowverse story so this was a very casual writing and not my best work but I hope you enjoyed.


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